An Atmosphere Charged With Anger and Fear; Church and State

Lamin Sanneh (''Faith and the Secular State,'' Op-Ed, Sept. 23), in suggesting ways to restore balance in the relationship between Western and Muslim states, says ''the West needs to overcome its insistence that the nation-state must be secular to be legitimate.'' Thus, he is willing to undermine one of the most precious tenets of our country.

The freedoms that we derive from the separation of church and state are at the heart of our democracy, and are a major reason why people of such varying religions and beliefs have chosen to make this country their home.

Without these freedoms, the collective social and intellectual capital that gives the United States its strength would have never occurred.